


In Gratitude

by occasional_boy_reporter



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, The Dawning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 13:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13236252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/occasional_boy_reporter/pseuds/occasional_boy_reporter
Summary: Young Vanguards share a brief moment of appreciation during a chilly Dawning.





	In Gratitude

   Zavala almost loses track of his mark- not once, but three times- as the figure slinks down rarely used Tower passages before navigating side streets of the Last Safe City on Earth with equal ease. Even at early evening, narrow alleys are dim between the onset of winter and the dark silhouettes of residences and shops stacked on top of each other. The full moon, almost a smaller twin to the shape of the Traveler overhead, reflects just enough light to allow Zavala to sidestep a broken pedal cab taking up a large part of the path. Winter wind sweeps down the passage and prickles the exposed flesh of the Commander’s face and the chill sinks beneath Zavala’s armor almost making him wish he’d never left the Tower at all. But the fleeting glimpses of whipping cloth ahead spur Zavala further from the rigid uniformity of the Tower’s white walls and deeper into the jumble of once hastily-constructed shelters and pathways that are sometimes paved but more often packed earth and worn stone. They are well beyond the marble and tile of the City’s finer districts and into those sectors on the fringe where more recent immigrants are still carving out their lives in the shadows of great walls.

  
    A buzz of a voices and activity parallel Zavala’s journey with nothing more than a line of shopfronts and abodes separating the pursued and pursuing from the hubbub. When Zavala’s target darts from their shadowed alley into that bustle and light of a main street, Zavala is all but sure he’s lost the cloaked figure for good. Zavala stays on course until he too finds the gap between shops, a portal of bright amber light, and steps into a whole different world.

  
    The Dawning is in full swing here. Already narrow streets are positively choked with smiling faces rosy with the cold but glowing in a combination of warm spirits and light from the countless lanterns that hang from windows and street lamps. More luminaries are suspended across rows of pop-up stalls selling knick knacks and commemorative seasonal items- figurines, cards, fortunes. Zavala distracts himself from the thought of the colossal fire hazard overhead by searching for his target amongst the milling civilians. It’s a sea of men, women, and Exos pointing, laughing, greeting, holding hands, wishing-well, stopping and starting a dozen times for every five feet they move. Zavala’s certain he can’t be that far behind his target. After all, a crowd this large and slow could hold up even the slipperiest of Hunters.

  
    As he gently weaves his way through the crowd and in the general direction of intuition, quite a number of people recognize Zavala - most as the current Commander even if not by name. Fewer dare to extend a hurried ‘Happy Dawning’ before turning abruptly away. When a mother subtly shields her curious child, Zavala gets the message. The Awoken consciously schools his features into something a bit less ferociously focused and a bit more nondescriptly pleasant. No reason to scare the citizenry in one of his rare bouts outside the Tower. Zavala is on a mission but the fresh air is welcome and the sense of excitement bouncing between gold-washed buildings is enough to tip his carefully neutralized expression toward a smile. Zavala offers a small nod and a wave to the wide-eyed child still straining to peak beyond his mother’s skirts before the Commander continues through the mingling masses. Some stall beyond his line of sight is roasting figs, the spiced smell bringing back memories of Dawnings before his Vanguard appointment when he and Shaxx would wander the streets and spend weeks of earnings on enough food to make even their stomachs ache in defeat. Despite the nagging curiosity that’s been plaguing him since the beginning of tonight’s excursion and the nuisance of having lost visual on his target, being among the City folk during such a joyous occasion is…nice.

  
    Zavala’s ghost of a smile lasts right up to the moment a hulk of a man- broad frame only further exaggerated by the snug, fur-trimmed jacket he’s wearing- goes down hard in the Commander’s path and Zavala jerks to a stop in the crowded space to avoid a collision. The downed man’s companion is there instantly to scoop the larger of the two off the ground with a hurried apology to Zavala. And not with a ‘Sorry, Mister’ but a cowed ‘Our apologies, Commander Zavala.’

  
    The sight of Titan mark hanging from the first man’s belt, which looks almost horrendously out of place over top civilian slacks, is enough to wipe the grin entirely off Zavala’s face. This also brings back a slew of pre-Vanguard memories; gatherings and late nights and establishments with owners infected by the generous spirit of the season who are perhaps a bit too generous to the Guardians looking to celebrate. Zavala sighs and wonders how many more Guardians will find themselves stumbling through City streets reeking of free alcohol in the next few days.

  
    The second man, the Titan’s companion, must feel the chill of Zavala’s stare even through a heavy poncho because the man shivers as he meets the Commander’s gaze.

  
    “I think maybe we’ve had enough fun,” the second man mutters to his companion, “We’ll be heading back to the Tower.”

  
    “Immediately,” Zavala orders. “And keep out of sight.”

  
    The drooping Titan offers a swaying ‘thumbs up’ before he and his helper shuffle for a less populated route. Zavala frowns after them. This is exactly the kind of reckless revelry he was afraid to find tonight. From the beginning, he has expected to chase his quarry into some dive bar. They have certainly found the right area for that sort of establishment. Resolve stoked anew, Zavala finds the relative high ground of an elevated stoop to increase his visual range over the throng.

  
    A block or so ahead, Zavala can see a pocket of space forming in the crowd and the cheer of young voices has Zavala’s gut settling in certainty. His target has proven time and again to enjoy being the center of attention so that is where the Commander set his sights. As the Titan approaches, a black hood becomes visible as it bobs in the middle of the standing crowd, just slightly taller than the brightly-colored scarves and wraps of civilians forming a loose circle of chuckling onlookers. Zavala joins the ring, careful not to push so close that he might draw his target’s suspicion but close enough to verify his assumption. Sure enough, there is Cayde-6 looking quite natural being attacked by a small swarm of children.

  
    The Hunter Vanguard yammers only a token annoyance as he twists to swat a few giggling youngsters out from beneath his cape –little heads emerging with wildly tousled hair and wide grins- before the Exo continues a flashy series of maneuvers with the cards spread between gloved hands. The magic trick is stalled repeatedly with Cayde’s flustered stammers and exclamations each time a child latches onto his leg or arm and the screams of laughter only increase each time Cayde reprimands the tiny mob with increasingly ridiculous names.

   “Settle down, you fleshy heathens!” Cayde orders to the delight of both children and the assembled adults Zavala is now recognizing, in part, as the parental units of said heathens. “Do you wanna see the trick or not?”

  
   “Yes!” Chorus the children along with a few exasperated and amused adult responses.

  
    “Then give me back my arms, you salty sea monkeys!”

  
    This produces another roll of laughter from the crowd and two more children latch onto the Exo and hang from his elbows in playful disobedience as the Hunter Vanguard staggers. For a second, Zavala wonders if the children are truly trying to take Cayde down.

  
    “What! Would you…You! Hey! Just…Aw, forget it,” Cayde finally mumbles. He pats his fanned cards into a deck in each hand and, with a twitch of his thumbs, launches the cards into a flipping, swirling vortex of reds and blacks. Children shriek as they spin and try to grab the cards out of the air. Parents snicker and hide their faces or groan. A few clap and whistle as if this had been the trick all along. Zavala had always known Cayde was an entertainer, but he’s never seen the Exo with a crowd like this!

  
    With some of the children distracted by an impromptu game of fifty-two pickup Cayde focusses on prying the little ones off his arms. He pretends to shake them off but it’s clear he’s being gentle. The tykes don’t budge. Next, Cayde raises his arms high and grunts like a body builder but it only encourages tiny arms to squeeze tighter. Seemingly defeated, Cayde sighs and addresses the three tots hanging on his arms, “How about you give me my arms and I give you one of the surprises I brought?”

  
    This finally does the trick and the children drop like over-ripe fruit from Cayde’s limbs to hold out their hands eagerly.

  
   “Little mobsters,” Cayde clicks in feigned disapproval before fishing a treat for each out of the bag resting on the small of his back. He presses a gold-wrapped sweet into each little hand and the children acknowledge the gift with a grin and finger guns pointed at the sky accompanied with enthusiastic ‘pow pow’ noises in one of the most bizarre giving rituals Zavala’s ever witnessed.

  
    Cayde returns the gesture as the rest of the children catch on to the presence of candy and crowd around for their own. Cayde seems to have prepared for this and dishes out treat after treat in exchange for his returned deck of cards until every little one is beaming. “Alright. Everybody got one? Good. Happy Dawning. Now get out of here, you scamps. And don’t forget your adults!”

  
    Dismissed, the children scatter to collect their parents and proudly show their gifts. With a little bit of prompting, proper thanks and seasonal greetings pepper the air as the crowd begins to migrate back into the regularly scheduled street fair. There’s a broad smile on every face that passes by Zavala and he can’t help but marvel that Cayde put those expressions there. As the crowd disperses, Zavala realizes his cover is dwindling and if he doesn’t want to be discovered, he’d better move along as well. Instead he finds himself watching one more little girl, a late-comer with a scarf wound up to her nose and no older than four or five, as she fights the retreating crowd to make her way to Cayde with her father in tow- his hand clasped around hers and stooping from the height difference. The Exo sees the girl coming and kneels in the middle of the street to greet her on more equal terms. Their conversation is too quiet for Zavala to hear but it looks to be the same treat and finger guns transaction as the rest. When it comes to goodbye however, tiny fingers push down the scarf and hook clumsily in the open space of Cayde’s lower jaw pulling the Exo’s face down until the girl can place a kiss to the tip of Cayde’s ‘nose.’

  
    “Oh! Sorry,” the father mumbles from his awkward stoop over the scene and laughs, embarrassed. “She’s been on a roll with those lately.”

  
    “Ah…well,” Cayde seems a little shell-shocked before he chuckles and the lights of his throat sparkle in the girl’s eyes. “It’s fine. But…uh…You probably shouldn’t kiss Hunters, little lady. You never know where they’ve been.”

  
    The child smiles, too young to understand the joke but obviously delighting in every move and flickering light of Cayde’s face. The Exo gently works wool-wrapped fingers out of his jaw but instead of getting the hint, the child transfers her grip to Cayde’s hand- only able to hold a couple of the Exo’s fingers in her mitt. The child’s father huffs in soft amusement and Cayde blinks in surprise. “She’s uh…got a Titan’s grip, doesn’t she?”

  
    Grip or not, removing the hand of a toddler certainly can’t be as difficult as Cayde is making it out to be. Only after Cayde resettles on his haunches and stares at the fingers wrapped around his does the Titan Vanguard begin to suspect it isn’t a matter of ability but simple reluctance to be the one to break the spell. Zavala can see the moment an idea hits, however, and the Exo shakes his head in sudden exaggeration, “Oooh! Your dad sure seems cold. Maybe you should help him find some hot chocolate.”

  
    The little girl looks to her father who shivers, playing along without missing a beat of the Exo’s scheme. Cayde produces a small cube of glimmer as if from thin air and the girl lets out a loud ‘wow’ at the simple trick as the Exo passes it to her. One hand already occupied by candy, the girl finally releases Cayde’s hand to grasp the shining cube.  
Now free, Cayde rises quickly and tucks his thumbs behind his belt in casual defense. “Happy Dawning, you two.”

  
    Long after the man and his child have offered their thanks and departed, Cayde remains fixed in their direction, fingers worrying over themselves on the hand that held the girl’s. Just as Zavala begins to think he’s lingered too long, Cayde turns and looks him directly in the eye. So much for going unnoticed. Who was he kidding? Even with the stream of people passing between them, Titan armor is about as conspicuous as it gets. The best he can hope for now is that Cayde sees this as some kind of funny coincidence and-

  
    “Did you follow me across the whole City just to drag me back to the Tower?”

  
    Zavala clamps his lips when he wants to sigh and instead exhales heavily through his nose. Even though Cayde’s audience has dispersed, the Commander closes the gap so that fewer people might pass between and overhear- the street is still full of celebrants and Cayde and Zavala are literally standing in the thick of it.

  
    “I knew you’d been slipping out the last few evenings,” Zavala begins. “I was simply curious.”

  
    “You mean you wanted to know what I was doing wrong,” Cayde corrects bluntly and crosses his arms.

  
    Meeting the Exo’s gaze becomes difficult because the statement is entirely true.

  
    “Yes,” Zavala finally admits. “But I am the one who has done wrong.”

  
    Cayde eyes the Commander warily, as if he expects the confession to be rescinded or to be reprimanded for something else entirely. Zavala knows he has been hard on the Hunter at times, but only because they need Cayde to be the man Andal touted- the strong, clever, adaptive leader the former Vanguard knew Cayde-6 could be. And if he’s being honest, Zavala knows Cayde has embodied those traits and more in the last year.

  
    “I followed you because I expected you were off to overindulge, or to participate in some events of dubious legality.”

  
    “Something that would embarrass you?”

  
    Their eyes meet and, no matter how cool Cayde likes to play off Zavala’s disapproval, there is pain in the Exo’s voice, in the slump of his shoulders.

  
    “Yes.” The word leaves a bitterness on Zavala’s tongue.

  
    Cayde looks away, down the street, probably toward escape now that he thinks Zavala has stalked him just to highlight the rough edges of the Exo’s personality once again. Zavala had intended to do just that. And to drag the Exo back to the Tower, just as he said. But now, it is unthinkable.

  
    “I fully expected the worst,” Zavala admits around the ash in his mouth. “That was unfair to you, Cayde.”

  
    Lit, blue eyes flick to Zavala again but Cayde’s posture remains guarded.

  
    “I’m ashamed I allowed myself to think like that. What you’re doing for these people…have you been down here all these nights?”

  
    The Exo takes his time deciding to answer.

   
    “Sort of. A different part of the City every night, but, yeah.” Cayde shrugs as if it’s no big deal but Zavala can see the way Cayde tenses as he continues. “This…used to be Andal’s thing. Now that he’s gone…”

  
    Cayde can’t seem to do more than shrug again.

  
    Of course. The wounds are still fresh. They all feel an obligation to Andal’s legacy but no one more than Cayde. “I understand. It’s very kind of you to continue the tradition. He would be proud, Cayde. And it’s clear the people love you. Especially the children.”

  
    There’s something about that last point that seems to hit Cayde so hard that he squirms. A pain that is none of Zavala’s business, perhaps, or maybe it is simply a case of too many cuts reopening at once. But there is something the Commander must address and he hopes that it will, at least, serve as some sort of balm.

  
    “Cayde, I’m sorry that this is so long overdue. It has been a very difficult year for the Tower, for the Vanguard, and for us but…thank you. For everything. Your sense of duty, your genuine concern for your charges, your unorthodox methods, your levity, even those moments when you challenge my authority. You make life…interesting.” After a moment of debate, another word fills Zavala’s thoughts, equally truthful but perhaps a bit more telling, so the Commander amends, “You make life full.”

  
    The Exo doesn’t respond right away, eyes glowing steady and head tipped in subtle consideration, until an amused huff finally escapes mechanical features. “You’re welcome.”

  
    Zavala finds a single laugh escaping him as well. How very like Cayde to take a humbling moment of gratitude and reduce it to it’s base.

  
   “You’re not so bad yourself,” Cayde offers with a nod- half considering and half teasing. "I mean...you're kinda stiff. A little boring. You actually-"

 

   "Let's not push it."

 

   "Yuuup, fair enough." Cayde fishes a treat from his pack and tosses it at the Commander who barely catches it. “Happy Dawning, Zavala.”

  
    It’s not the worst as far as heart to hearts go.

  
    “Happy Dawning, Cayde.” Not for the first time tonight, Zavala’s smile is genuine.

  
    “You wanna help me give out the rest of these?”

  
    “It would be my pleasure.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [visit me on tumblr? :D](https://fox-fic-and-ink.tumblr.com/)


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